Police: Cary man tried to bring hatchet into courthouse

WOODSTOCK – A Cary man who police said tried to bring a hatchet into the McHenry County Courthouse on Thursday was taken to Centegra Hospital – Woodstock for an evaluation.

Dustin M. Mancill, 23, entered the courthouse through the west doors about 8:30 a.m., and, in accordance with standard procedure, was told by a security officer to remove items from his pockets and take off his coat to be scanned by an X-ray machine.

As Mancill took off his coat, the officer saw the hatchet – which measured about 15 inches from the top to the bottom of the handle – tucked into the front of Mancill’s pants along the belt line, Court Security Chief Marv Fell said.

The officer grabbed the hatchet and Mancill was taken aside, away from the other people entering the building.

As the officers tried to get information from Mancill, a scuffle broke out. “In an attempt to secure him, everybody went down to the floor,” Fell said.

Mancill acted erratically, passive one moment and then aggressive the next, Fell said.

Court records show that Mancill was to appear at 9 a.m. before Judge Michael Feetterer on misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and aggravated assault of a police officer in connection with an incident last February.

Mancill’s father was with him and said his son suffers from a mental condition, Fell said.

It was unclear why he had the hatchet.

“There was no indication of verbal threats, just the fact that he had this thing and nobody really knows why,” Fell said. “His father didn’t know he had it with him.”

Charges from Thursday’s incident, possibly unlawful use of a weapon, are pending.

One of the court security officers was treated at an urgent care for a strain in her left leg after another officer landed on it during the scuffle, Fell said.